Photo: Stefan Pangritz
An interesting, albeit brief, New York Times article appeared last month regarding Albert Hofmann, the famous Swiss scientist and “father” of LSD. The article discusses the legend of Hofmann discovering the drug by falling off his bicycle on the way home from work. It includes some great quotes, such as Hofmann describing his (and mankind’s) first experience with LSD:
“At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicatedlike condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination.”
A few days later, Hofmann experimented with a different dosage. The results, recorded in the following lyric quote, would later be described as a “bad trip”:
“A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind and soul. . . . It was the demon that scornfully triumphed over my will.â€
While Hofmann displayed clear enthusiasm for the mystical elements of the drug and its possible creative and therapeutic applications, he found the recreational use of the drug in the U.S. quite disturbing, particularly the drug’s connection with “materialism, alienation from nature through industrialization and increasing urbanization, lack of satisfaction . . . a mechanized, lifeless working world, ennui and purposelessness in a wealthy, saturated society.â€
Also addressed in the article is Hofmann’s work with hallucinogenic mushrooms in Mexico, and his fascination with the ritual practiced by the ancient Greeks at Eleusis. Hofmann theorized that the Greeks employed psychedelic ingredients (ergot) in their sacred potion, kykeon, used during the ritual. North Atlantic recently released a title by Hofmann and contemporaries R. Gordon Wasson and Carl A. P. Ruck that looks at this interesting theory in depth. Entitled The Road to Eleusis, the book explores the Greek ritual at Eleusis, and expands to show that natural psychedelic agents have been used in spiritual rituals across history and cultures.
CLICK HERE for more info on The Road to Eleusis
CLICK HERE to read the New York Times article on Hofmann
